Christina Butler

The drivers of cooperation between buyers and suppliers for product innovation

Abstract This article reports the results of an empirical study that probed the adoption of Early Supplier Involvement (ESI) in the product development process. ESI is defined as a form of vertical cooperation where manufacturers involve suppliers at an early stage in the product development/innovation process, generally at the level of concept and design. Previous research has shown that Western automobiles manufacturers obtained significant benefits by emulating the ESI practices of their Japanese competitors; the bulk of research knowledge is, in fact, located in this domain. This study focused on a group of assembly-based industries outside the automotive setting to determine if the adoption and benefits of ESI are found in other domains as well. Twenty-five companies in three non-automotive industries participated in the research. A model of ESI adoption was developed and tested, and an ESI index created to determine the degree to which this practice was applied. The results reveal, among other things, that the level of ESI practice is strongly related to a higher number of supplier base initiatives, lower product integration, broader supplier scope and a higher proportion of parts purchased. Significant results were also obtained in comparisons between industry sectors and geographic regions (USA, Western Europe and Japan). We suggest that promising directions for future research include broad-based samples across industrial sectors and industry-focused empirical study.

New product development and early supplier Involvement (ESI): the drivers of ESI adoption

This paper reports the results of an empirical study that probed the adoption of early supplier involvement (ESI) in the product development process. ESI is defined as a form of vertical co-operation in which manufacturers involve suppliers at an early stage in the product development/innovation process, generally at the level of concept and design. Previous research has shown that Western automobile manufacturers obtained significant benefits by emulating the ESI practices of their Japanese competitors; the bulk of research knowledge is, in fact, located in this domain. This study focused on a group of assembly-based industries outside the automotive setting to determine if the adoption and benefits of ESI are found in other domains as well. Twenty-five companies in three non-automotive industries participated in the research. A model of ESI adoption was developed and tested, and an ESI index created to determine the degree to which this practice was applied. The results reveal, among other things, that the level of ESI practice is strongly related to a higher number of supplier base initiatives, lower product integration, broader supplier scope and a higher proportion of parts purchased. Significant results were also obtained in comparisons between industry sectors and geographic regions (USA, Western Europe and Japan). We suggest that promising directions for future research include broad-based samples across industrial sectors and industry-focused empirical study.

The Business of Teaching and Learning through Multicultural Teams.

Team working is a key skill students need in this era of global complexity. Here we combine research with practice to develop a model for working in multicultural teams which can be used in International Business curricula. We formulate the 4 Cs model focusing on two areas: composition and communication. These two Cs have been chosen because they are active research areas and because they are the areas that have presented our own student groups with the biggest challenges. Getting these wrong can lead to the third C: conflict. Getting these right can lead to that illusive fourth C: creativity. We then illustrate how using multicultural teams in international business courses can facilitate the development of inter‐ and intrapersonal capabilities through conceptual, experiential, experimental, and reflective student learning. We would like to express our appreciation to two anonymous reviewers and to the Guest Editors for invaluable help in developing this article.

Processes of International Collaboration in Management Research: A Reflexive, Autoethnographic Approach

Scientists and academics increasingly work on collaborative projects and write papers in international research teams. This trend is driven by greater publishing demands in terms of the quality and breadth of data and analysis methods, which tend to be difficult to achieve without collaborating across institutional and national boundaries. Yet, our understanding of the collaborative processes in an academic setting and the potential tensions associated with them remains limited. We use a reflexive, autoethnographic approach to explicitly investigate our own experiences of international collaborative research. We offer systematic insights into the social and intellectual processes of academic collaborative writing, identifying six lessons and two key tensions that influence the success of international research teams. Our findings may benefit the formation of future coauthor teams, the preparation of research proposals, and the development of PhD curricula.

Somewhere In-Between Narratives of Place, Identity, and Translocal Work

This article discusses the de/construction of liminal identities in relation to translocal patterns of work. Through a phenomenological analysis of three autobiographical narratives, it informs management and organization studies, discussing liminality and translocality as embedded and embodied phenomena experienced in relational, spatio-temporal, and inter-corporeal levels. In particular, the article proposes that a post-dichotomous conceptualization of place and non-place, self and other, and fixity and mobility unveils the complexities of studying identity, liminality, and translocality as interrelated phenomena. Liminal identities are explored as socio-spatial, temporary crystallizations of translocal bodily experiences, disrupted by differentially embodying displacements and emplacements across space–time. Finally, we suggest that translocal socio-spatial scales are inter-corporeal performances that challenge both material and immaterial boundaries. The article concludes with the contributions of this work to identity, liminality, and translocality studies and a discussion of future research directions.

Followers’ personality, transformational leadership and performance

Purpose – Effective leadership is important to performance in both organisational and sporting arenas. The authors theorised that follower personality would influence perceptions of leadership, and that perceived effective leadership would be associated with performance. The authors drew on Social Identity Theory (Tajfel and Turner, 1986), Transformational Leadership and personality theory to develop a research model designed to assess leadership effectiveness and performance. The purpose of this paper is to test the research model in a sporting context. Design/methodology/approach – The context of the research was a round the world sailing race, a ten-month competitive circumnavigation with ten identical boats. Quantitative data were gathered concerning participants’ personality, their perceptions of transformational leadership and boat performance. Qualitative data on transformational leadership and leadership effectiveness were gathered from a subsample of crew members. Findings – Results showed that transformational leadership was associated with leadership effectiveness and performance. Personality influenced perceptions of leadership and, for moderate performing boats, there were associations between perceptions of leadership and performance. Research limitations/implications – The data have implications for the extension of transformational leadership theory. Further consideration of follower personality could enhance leadership effectiveness. A limitation is the relatively small scale of the study. Practical implications – The main implication is that leaders should take follower personality into account, and adapt their leadership style accordingly. Doing so has consequences for performance. Originality/value – This novel study examined personality, leadership, and performance and has implications for enhancing leadership and performance in sports and business.

The influence of follower cultural orientation on attitudinal responses towards transformational leadership: evidence from the Chinese hospitality industry

In addition to extending the empirical investigation of the relationship between transformational leadership and follower affective commitment to the Chinese hospitality industry, this study makes a theoretical contribution by investigating the influence of individually held cultural values on this relationship. Building on previous research which has examined whether collectivism moderates the transformational leadership/affective commitment relationship, this study investigates the moderating effects of two additional cultural value orientations, namely power distance and uncertainty avoidance. Hierarchical regression analysis was utilized to analyse survey data from 398 employees of four Chinese hotels in Zhejiang Province. In addition to finding a positive relationship between transformational leadership and affective commitment, data analysis revealed that followers low in power distance exhibited higher levels of affective commitment when working under a transformational leader than those high in power distance. In addition, followers high in uncertainty avoidance and collectivism exhibited greater commitment when working under a transformational leader than those low in uncertainty avoidance and collectivism. These findings clearly indicate the importance of within-country cultural differences to the effectiveness of leaders in the workplace.

Team-based global organizations: The future of global organizing

This chapter draws on a panel discussion of the future of global organizing as a team-based organization at EIBA 2014 in Uppsala, Sweden. We began by discussing contemporary developments of hybrid ...

I know how! You know how! We know how! The multinational matter of language use in task teams

The need for high-performance multinational teams is now a reality for many organisations dealing with the increasing complexities of global business. It is a reality that organisations often struggle to achieve, and so a deep understanding of how to create a strong shared team culture in such circumstances is imperative. A key element in the development of a strong shared team culture is that of a shared language. Work integrating language into the frameworks of international management and global teams, however, remains in its infancy. In this theory-building paper, language is placed centre stage. This paper begins to identify the implications of particular language choices for the work performance of multinational teams. Leveraging previous research on status cues, theory is built in this paper around the differential use of task indicative cues spoken in a shared language across multinational work team members. The paper reviews literature on language in the international sphere, multinational teams, and status cues across cultures including the differential use of task indicative cues before sections on theory-building and implications for management practice are presented.

Team conflict contributing to entrepreneurial learning: understanding conflict as positive within an effectual problem space

The impact of team conflict seems to depend upon context. Entrepreneurship literature suggests that learning from diverse perspectives in teams can contribute to entrepreneurial action (Harper 2008; West III, 2007; Williams-Middleton, 2010), while management literature has shown that conflict in teams often negatively affects creativity (Jehn et al., 2010). Recent research streams suggest that entrepreneurial learning might be better understood by applying an effectual logic perspective, instead of causal logic (Sarasvathy and Venkataraman, 2011). This causes us to question whether conflict is experienced similarly in entrepreneurial versus managerial teams. We suggest negative consequences of team conflict found in management literature may be due to the causal logic underlying this literature, and thus not readily applicable to entrepreneurial learning. Through exploring relationships between team work, team conflict, and effectuation, we propose that positive learning outcomes can emerge from experience of team conflict within an effectual and uncertain problem space.